Sunday, August 28, 2011

My great friend, The Sharynator {as in - a fun combo of her name and The Terminator? Get it? Yep. I am a great friend.} bought me a can of pumpkin a few weeks ago, after we had just heard about the great pumpkin shortage of 2010 and started to kind of PANIC and FREAK THE FRACK OUT because we noticed our local grocer was not stocking the pumpkin like they used to but then she spotted it on the shelves of another market. {Food Ciiiiiiii-Tay! - if you've ever shopped there, you know what I mean. I LOVE shopping there. Especially FRIDAYS!} and picked us each up a big ol' can. {oh holy run on sentence} And I have been staring at it ever since, because my trusty pumpkin bread recipe just isn't going to work this year {since we've been gluten-free since January} and I hate to waste time making things that are going to end up tasting like sadness. BUT I have tried to start to give myself credit for finally getting a handle on what gf flours work for what and so I decided {after a successful foray into making pancakes with what I had on hand vs an actual recipe}to try to modify my bread recipe into gf muffins. They turned out SO DELICIOUS I am going to share them with you:

1 1/2 c gluntinous rice flour {widely available at asian or int'l supermarkets for VERY inexpensive- I can get it in AZ for about 99 cents a pound}

1 c sorghum flour

1 c tapioca starch

1/2 c almond flour

2 tsp guar gum

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup buttermilk {you can substitute powdered buttermilk + water}

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tins with paper liners OR grease and flour the cavities. In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: the flours, guar gum, soda, powder and spices. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugars and honey until well combined, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add vanilla and pumpkin and beat until well mixed. Add the buttermilk and flour, alternating between the two, until everything is mixed together. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Hi friends! When I became a total star ... started on my quest for craft world domination ... made my television debut last week, this headband was one of the two YO-yo-yo projects I intended to talk about making. And then we took so long talking about the tank top and, well, actually just MAKING a yo-yo, I never actually got to this one. I am quite certain there might be one person out there that is interested in this, so One Person? This is just for YOU :)

The headband is pretty simple, just a collection of yo-yos on a felt base. To make one of these little suckers, you'll need:

-A plastic headband - I bought a pack of 5 at the dollar store, for, well, A DOLLAR :)

-square fabric scraps or a charm pack - stack them up in rainbow color, because that's just really more pretty to look at :)

-yo-yo makers in various shaped and sizes {or an old trashed cd to trace if you don't have a yo-yo maker}

-a handful of buttons or flowers or stacked felt flowers {I will show you at the end how to make a simple one} and at least 8 finished yo-yo's.

A piece of white {or any coordinating color} craft felt, cut into a bean shape, approximately 4 inches long.

To start, make your yo-yos. Don't have a yo-yo maker? Go here. Now, glue the felt piece to the underside of the headband, starting where ever you'd like your patch of yo-yos to be. I did these off to one side {and since there is no front or back? It can be worn to either side}.

Start building your patch by first covering your headband with three large yo-yos. Securely glue the yo-yos to the felt as well as the headband. Then just glue the rest, overlapping, over the rest of the white felt, covering the felt as much as possible. Trim away any edges that aren't covered.

To make a quick beaded and stacked felt flower:

Cut a small, bigger and biggest circle out of felt. {smallest is about the size of a penny}

Glue and stack together. Once all glued together, put a generous ball of hot glue on the top in the center

Carefully push the glue spot into a pile of small seed beads {while the glue is still HOT}

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I had so much fun AGAIN today visiting the local ABC studio. My bucket is SUPER DUPER full today, KATCHOW KATCHOW. I thought I should have been super nervous being on live tv, but {besides the nip slip/F-bomb anxiety} I have felt at ease both times. Weird. And slightly awesome.

I thought to bring my camera along this time to get a few shots of the studio and hosts.

And.....You guessed it! I was that guest. That one who was actin' the fool once the camera came out. Yeah. But WHO IS NOT EMBARRASSED IN THE LEAST? Me. Three words. No. Nip. Slip. That's all that really matters, Amen.

They probably shouldn't ask me to be a camera woman, for real. That camera is SENSITIVE. My shakey hands + that = no bueno.

And ZOWEEMAMA these ladies are beautiful.... and SUPER THIN. {my poor ham bone arms were so embarrassed.} Next time? I will bring them donuts. And perhaps several buckets of lard. Need motivation to go on a diet? You can come with me next time... {boohoo.}

It was just a really fun day. And I hope everyone in the land starts a Chore Store. It really is a great thing.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

August is the month in Arizona when pretty much everyone {besides the mister- he LOVEs the heat} is completely, totally and utterly DONE with the heat. So, so done. So done, all I can think about is, 'why do we live here?' ... 'San Diego isn't that expensive, is it?' ... 'I think I am insane.' ... 'Where is the ice cream?' ... 'Why are my pants so tight?!'...So, to totally screw with myself, I decided to do a once-over on my sad little neglectarino porch that has been sitting dusty and desolate all summer. Because, for real? Its going to be at least 2 months before anyone is actually enjoying sitting out here again.... BUT I adore the way it turned out and am pleased to say in total I spent less than $35! And very minimal effort...

I bought these adirondack chairs at our last community yard sale for $10 each. I used leftover paint from my bedroom dresser makeover of last summer and I LOVE them :) Best part? Painting helps minimize the splinter-in-yer-butt factor these chairs used to have. The nightstand side table was a free with purchase item on my last craigslist find {hutch for fabric storage}. I just love free.

The lamp was a mere $2.50 at Goodwill half priced weekend. It was a god awful wood and brass, but nothing a little spray paint couldn't clean right up. The shade was one I had in the garage- the scale is a little off, but I didn't want to buy a brand new shade to put outside so it will have to do...

I made this chevron fabric out of spray paint, painters tape and a painters drop cloth and just recovered an old, faded pillow. {the pink Flea Market Fancy pillow is a leftover decoration from Camden's grad party}

I made this slipcover out of a kitchen towel from Target. I think it was the biggest splurge, at $3.99.

I just love the way it turned out. Now, if only the weather will cooperate!

Friday, August 19, 2011

In case you don't follow me on twitter, I was on this local show yesterday doing a craft demo. It's true. Me. Tv. Live. Insanity. Big hair, hambone arms, double chin and all. Here's the low-down. I was worried about f-bombing it or a nip slip THE. ENTIRE. TIME. Its truly absurd since I can actually be out in public and not riddle my conversations with vulgarity. {shut-up, Heather.} I have NEVER just casually shown anyone my nipple. Really. For REAL. I can be trusted {most of the time} in polite society and not embarrass anyone. But for some reason? I thought surely all hell was going to break loose when these people let ME of all people on LIVE tv. Oh, man. But, besides that? I wasn't nervous at all. In fact, I was on my BEST BEHAVIOR and apparently not as sassy as everyone expected!

...

I will do better, next time.... which just so happens to be next Thursday, August 25th when I am going to appear on Sonoran Living.... If you are in Arizona, please tune in if you can :)